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Curious how you would start an early teen girl who is interested in strength training. With teen boys we have talked about beginning with things such as bodyweight exercises to build some stability and conditioning.

My daughter will be 13 soon and I am unsure, should she take an interest, if I should start her on deadlift and squat instruction.

I don't see the requirements for girls being any different than boys. Bodyweight stuff would be great with the addition of some sled work.

Agreed. I got chewed up on another forum for asking about gender specific routines for a friend. Bodyweight stuff all the way for a couple of years I would say. You have a chance to cement perfect form in her head if she wants to be a lifter. You can't let that oppurtunity go to waste. Plus, it will condition her body and help keep her lean to a point, until she is ready to add bars and weights.

Yep, squat and deadlift instruction early on will go a long way to ensuring correct form, even if done with minimal weight loads. The young body will also be more flexible and she may maintain more flexibility than most females as she grows up, if she starts young.

the biggest challenge I have with bodyweight exercises is figuring out what will be most effective. Pushups and pullups would have to be assisted. How about burpees/jump squats?

She could start with door/wall push-ups and, then sink push-ups (against a higher surface), then half push-ups, then floor push-ups; it's a simple progression and it really won't take that long. It's a case of her knowing when to take the next step and even mixing them, doing a few of the harder ones and finishing off the set with the easier ones when necessary.

I got my boys (10 and 12) to be able to do a real pull-up over the Summer. I used a combination of fat-man pull-ups and assisted pull-ups. When they started to try them un-assisted I would use my hands to cue them. I'd pull down on an elbow to get them to think about driving the elbows down instead of trying to lift with the arms. Then I would pinch their lats to remind them which muscles to try and pull with. Of course, being typical kids, they were very excited to do their first pull-up and promptly quit working on them all-together - lol

I would have her do cleans, snatches and jerks and first get the form nailed down on those lifts (with a broomstick and then a light barbell), and hopefully she will enjoy it. When she can master the oly lifts, she is ready for anything.

Just thinking outside the box here, and i wish someone had schooled me that way.

You have a bench. You have a squat rack. You no doubt have a broomstick or something similar or know where to get one. You could jerry-rig a platform to elevate the broomstick at the appropriate height to begin working on proper mechanics for deads, rows, cleans and snatches (maybe a couple of cement blocks - one at either end).

Others have posted about bodyweight exercises (pullups, pushups, squats, etc.); good choices all! Combine the strength building bodyweight exercises with the form drilling via broomstick. Someday (you'll know when) you can merge the two. Who knows? With the proper how shall we say... er...nutrition, someday there may be TWO Bearded Beasts of Duloc.

__________________Bogdan Petia Sarac - Must keel moose and squirrel

Cancer Survivor - 7/21/10

Benchmark 5K time:27:45 (3/5/11)

It's not the weight we move, but the people we move that matters. -- Bearded Beast of Duloc (12/31/10)